Thursday, December 11, 2008

Then Life Throws You a Curveball...

Well, I always wanted my children close in age. 2 years apart at the most. I was so excited when I got pregnant and found out they were going to be 21 months apart. PERFECT!! Everything was going well, I had early blood work, and my numbers doubled just as they were supposed to. I had started on progesterone because my numbers were low with my son, just as a precaution.

Yesterday was my first official OBGYN appointment. I was excited for the ultrasound. To see that little heartbeat. We get to the office, and go back to the ultrasound room. It was the probe ultrasound, which is vaginally. As soon as the tech put the probe in, I knew something was wrong. I could see nothing. No sack, no baby, nothing. Just white. That's when the tech started asking questions. Were my periods regular? Had I had any bleeding. She then told me what I knew already, that there was no baby.

She left the room to talk to the other ultrasound tech and to a doctor. Turns out I had a molar pregnancy. If you don't know what that is, welcome, I had no clue until yesterday. Apparently a complete (you can have a partial one too, I had a complete) molar pregnancy is when an "empty" egg is fertilized. The cells/tissue that form the placenta then grow out of control, taking over everything inside your uterus. A baby never forms in a complete mole.

I was taken back for a chest xray (because the cells are pre-cancerous, and can travel in your body, growing elsewhere), then sent to the hospital for a D&C (which is where they basically take everything out of your uterus).

I am home now, and feeling ok. I am very tired, and still confused as to why this happened to me. The odds of getting it in the first place are 1 in 1500.

The scary part, and the horrible part, is that now that it is out, I have to go thru twice weekly blood tests, then weekly, then monthly. They have to monitor my hCG levels very closely. Once they go down to 0, I have to then wait 6 months (with monthly blood work) before we can try again. If my levels stop dropping, or start rising, then it could be the cells growing again. Which could be cancer.

I am hoping and praying for the best, that my body gets back to normal soon. I know my physical body will heal faster than my emotional one.

Here is a picture of my ultrasound from yesterday, and a comparison one of my son at 8 weeks.

5 comments:

Julie
said...

Lisa - again I'm so sorry. You are a strong woman and I know that you will make it through this tough time, especially with the help of your family, friends and God. If you need to talk or blow off steam you know where to find me. Take care.Julie aka Mama Sunshine

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear your sad news. I'll be praying for you. We went through the same thing with a partial molar pregnancy 2 months ago. I was 15 weeks along, so it was shocking and very sad. I hope you have a quick and safe recovery physically and emotionally.Heather from M&M

Lisa, I'm so sorry. What a terrible discovery and process to have to go through. I'll say special prayers for you and your family tonight that you stay well and strong and can try again as soon as the docs clear you to do so. Hugs to you.